My lashes are wet with tears when I meet her eyes again, but I force a wobbly smile.
“Savannah Ward is pregnant.”
Oakley blinks at me in confusion, and I laugh weakly when I realize I dropped the news the same way Bo did. I guess both of us are bad at providing context when we’re shaken up.
“Okay?” Oakley shrugs, grimacing as though she feels a little guilty about what she’s saying. “I mean, I hate to be that guy, but she used to lie about shit like that all the time for attention when we were in school. I’ll believe it when I see it. What does that have to do with you and Bo?”
“She says Bo’s the father.”
My voice cracks over my despair as the words fall from my lips, and a tide of tears fall down my cheeks.
“No,” Oakley says without hesitation. “He’s not. There’s no way, he would never. And like I said, she used to say shit like that all the time about a bunch of random guys. It was never true.”
Her words may be sure, but her voice shakes as she says them, and there’s an edge of panic shining in her eyes.
“He said he went to a party that she was at and woke up naked in bed with her the next morning.” My voice is flat and emotionless as I repeat what he told me. I’ve repeated it overand over in my head too many times for it to choke me up, but I can’t pretend not to care. “He doesn’t remember anything from that night, but he said he got drunk and woke up with her. Now she’s pregnant. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together.”
Oakley’s eyes are wide as she listens to me, her usually comforting brown gaze burning with fiery anger and disbelief.
“But Bo doesn’t drink like that,” she protests.
“I know.”
“I’ve never seen him black out.” She shakes her head firmly, but I can see a thread of worry in the way her brows furrow. She’s having just as hard a time clinging to her instinctual disbelief as I am. “Even if he was that drunk, he’d never sleep with her. He just wouldn’t. I know he wouldn’t.”
Hearing her struggle to believe herself is only making it harder for me to cast my own suspicion away.
This is really how it ends between me and Bo, isn’t it?
“He texted me a few times.” I glance over at my phone where it sits on the low coffee table in the center of my living room. The text and calls remain unanswered, but I can’t seem to stop myself from reading everything he sends. “He said it happened before I got back to town, so at least he didn’t cheat on me.”
Small comforts.
He also keeps insisting that he thinks Savannah is lying about all of it. If he was so sure of that, I don’t know why he would have such a hard time handling it.
“Kenzie…” Oakley trails off, and I can tell she’s trying not to make some empty promise about things being okay. She’s always been a fixer, and this puts her in between a rock and a hard place. “I’m going to get to the bottom of all this, okay? Something’s off, and I just don’t believe that she’s actually pregnant, or that Bo slept with her.”
It’s nice to hear, but I don’t know what to believe anymore. Oakley can definitely do some serious digging, at least. Whether I’ll want to hear what she uncovers is a whole different story, though.
“Thanks, Oakley.” I keep my voice upbeat, but can’t hide the exhaustion lingering around the edges. “I’m lucky to have a friend like you.”
Oakley’s face crumples as she makes a sympathetic little noise, and she pulls me into a tight hug. It’s an uncomfortable position, half bent over on my own couch, but I bury my face into the soft waves of her hair.
“Are you okay to be alone tonight?” she asks, still holding me close. “I can crash on the couch if you need someone around.”
I laugh softly, shaking my head as I pull back.
“I’ll be okay.” I pull the box of tissues on the edge of the couch closer. “It’s probably good for me to just veg out for the night, y’know?”
Sniffling, I dab at the tears on my face, but I feel better after talking to her. She’s always been good at calming me down.
“Do you still have those Epsom salts I sent you for Christmas?” she asks, tucking a coil of messy red hair behind my ear.
“I think so.”
“Good. Light some candles and take a bath. Order takeout or something, just take it easy on yourself for tonight, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say teasingly. “I’ll take care of myself, promise.”
